Mrs. Natalie

“Maisie’s phone rings. The house rule is no phones at the table but we’ve made an exception for Maisie who keeps getting calls from neighbors asking for help, and we made an exception for Emily so that Benny can text her and tell her what time he’ll be back at the house, and so of course we extended the exception to Nell, because why would we let her sisters answer their phones at the table and make her turn hers off? Joe and I turn off our phones because everyone we want to talk to is here”
― Ann Patchett, Tom Lake

“Stories do more than comfort. They take you away and bring you back better made.”
― Tommy Orange, Wandering Stars

“You can’t pretend this [Covid] isn’t happening,” Maisie said. I couldn’t, and I don’t. Nor do I pretend that all of us being together doesn’t fill me with joy. I understand that joy is inappropriate these days and still, we feel what we feel.”
― Ann Patchett, Tom Lake

“Even the smallest person can change the course of the future”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring